We've Got to Try: How the Fight for Voting Rights Makes Everything Else Possible
- Downloads：4430
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-08-28 11:21:43
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Beto O'Rourke
- ISBN：1250866707
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
In We’ve Got To Try， O’Rourke shines a spotlight on the heroic life and work of Dr。 Lawrence Aaron Nixon and the west Texas town where he made his stand。 The son of an enslaved man， Nixon grew up in the Confederate stronghold of Marshall， Texas before moving to El Paso， becoming a civil rights leader， and helping to win one of the most significant civil and voting rights victories in American history: the defeat of the all-white primary。 His fight for the ballot spanned 20 years and twice took him to the U。S。 Supreme Court。
With heart， eloquence， and powerful storytelling， O’Rourke weaves together Nixon’s story with those of other great Texans who changed the course of voting rights and improved America’s democracy。 While connecting voting rights and democracy to the major issues of our time， O’Rourke also shares what he saw， heard， and learned while on his own journey throughout the 254 counties of his home state。 By telling the stories of those he met along the way and bringing us into the epicenter of the current fight against voter suppression， the former El Paso Congressman shows just how essential it is that the sacred right to vote is protected and that we each do our part to save our democracy for generations to come。
With heart， eloquence， and powerful storytelling， O’Rourke weaves together Nixon’s story with those of other great Texans who changed the course of voting rights and improved America’s democracy。 While connecting voting rights and democracy to the major issues of our time， O’Rourke also shares what he saw， heard， and learned while on his own journey throughout the 254 counties of his home state。 By telling the stories of those he met along the way and bringing us into the epicenter of the current fight against voter suppression， the former El Paso Congressman shows just how essential it is that the sacred right to vote is protected and that we each do our part to save our democracy for generations to come。
Reviews
Lynne Perednia
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A campaign book that provides a service with the reminder of the historical record how across the United States， but especially in Texas， people of color have had to fight long battles to be allowed to participate in democracy， to have quality schools and health care， and to live in freedom。The mantra of "We've Got to Try" is well-illustrated with examples of people at the local level making things better for their communities。Definitely recommended for secondary school and public libraries。 A campaign book that provides a service with the reminder of the historical record how across the United States， but especially in Texas， people of color have had to fight long battles to be allowed to participate in democracy， to have quality schools and health care， and to live in freedom。The mantra of "We've Got to Try" is well-illustrated with examples of people at the local level making things better for their communities。Definitely recommended for secondary school and public libraries。 。。。more
Emmalita
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When I saw the title of Beto O’Rourke’s new book， We’ve Got to Try， I thought， “yes， exactly！ What are we trying？” We are trying to save democracy by rescuing voting rights from people who want to suppress it。 That’s important， right？ I think it’s important。 I think it’s important to try and keep trying especially when success isn’t guaranteed。 In We’ve Got to Try: How the Fight for Voting Rights Makes Everything Else Possible， O’Rourke is telling the stories of the people who fought for voting When I saw the title of Beto O’Rourke’s new book， We’ve Got to Try， I thought， “yes， exactly！ What are we trying？” We are trying to save democracy by rescuing voting rights from people who want to suppress it。 That’s important， right？ I think it’s important。 I think it’s important to try and keep trying especially when success isn’t guaranteed。 In We’ve Got to Try: How the Fight for Voting Rights Makes Everything Else Possible， O’Rourke is telling the stories of the people who fought for voting rights in Texas since the end of the Civil War。 The people whose stories he is telling are regular citizens who should not have had to fight in order to exercise their Constitutional right to vote。I was born， raised and educated through high school in Texas。 I thought I had a good education。 Of the history that Beto talks about， I learned almost none of it in school。 I probably learned more about Reconstruction from yearly viewings of Gone With the Wind， than I did from my public schools。 Without context， those viewings of GWtW certainly gave me the idea that the Civil War and Reconstruction happened somewhere else in a time disconnected from my life。 I am appalled by the history I did not learn， but also heartened by the long tradition of fighting for the right to vote。 Without all citizens having the right to vote， none of our rights are safe。We’ve Got to Try is focused on Texans and Texas history， but what happens here impacts the nation。 I suspect Texas isn’t alone in glossing over the struggles of Black and Brown communities in public school history lessons。 I hope that readers inside and outside of Texas will read this and commit to working to regain or protect voting rights in their area。 This is a local， State， and Federal issue， but there won’t be Federal action without local movements。 Even if you feel secure where you are， please support voting rights organizations that are doing the work in places where our right to vote is being suppressed。We must embrace the challenges before us。 Because our democracy， which makes everything that is essential to this country possible， is on the line。 And while the outcome of the fight before us might be uncertain， we know one thing for sure。 We’ve got to try。 。。。more
Roxanne
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This was a very interesting and informative book。 Having lived in Calif for most of my life I did no9t know much about the history of Texas。 The book talks about Dr Lawrence Aaron Nixon and he grew up in west Texas。 He was the son of a slave。 He later moved to El Paso and became an civil rights leader， he fought against the all white primary and advocated for voting rights for all。 He fought for 20 years to give voters the right to vote。 I feel the right to vote will a struggle for years to come This was a very interesting and informative book。 Having lived in Calif for most of my life I did no9t know much about the history of Texas。 The book talks about Dr Lawrence Aaron Nixon and he grew up in west Texas。 He was the son of a slave。 He later moved to El Paso and became an civil rights leader， he fought against the all white primary and advocated for voting rights for all。 He fought for 20 years to give voters the right to vote。 I feel the right to vote will a struggle for years to come because someone will try to change the rules to exclude people from voting。 I cannot believe this is still the case in 2022。 This books also talks about the Rio Grande border issues， and overcoming obstacles and encourages people in their community to run for office and make a difference。 I learned a lot form this book。 。。。more
Ellen
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After an unsuccessful run at the presidency in 2016， Beto O’Rourke has concentrated on working to increase voter turnout， primarily in Texas。 This important book passionately puts forward s case for why we have to try - to break down barriers， to fight voter suppression， and to convince people that their vote is crucial to our democracy。。 one of the biggest takeaways from this book is that nothing that anyone is doing today to suppress the vote is new - and Texas， with its diverse population and After an unsuccessful run at the presidency in 2016， Beto O’Rourke has concentrated on working to increase voter turnout， primarily in Texas。 This important book passionately puts forward s case for why we have to try - to break down barriers， to fight voter suppression， and to convince people that their vote is crucial to our democracy。。 one of the biggest takeaways from this book is that nothing that anyone is doing today to suppress the vote is new - and Texas， with its diverse population and proximity to Mexico， has many fascinating cases to explore。 O’Rourke’s book is well written and thoroughly researched。 Unlike others who talk mainly about what we should do， O’Rourke talks about what has happened and how we can avoid the mistakes of the past。 One thing I did notice， however， is that there are quite a few editing problems。 The most serious is that the way the end notes are done is incorrect。 Whoever did the end notes put the numerical marker after the first word in the sentence， not at the end or following the salient point。 For example， an end note would read like this: “The （note number） newspaper published an article。” It should be “The newspaper published an article （number）” or， if referring to the newspaper and not the article， “the newspaper （number） published an article。” I don’t know if there is time to get this fixed before publication but I hope so， since it would greatly improve the book’s ability to be taken seriously as a scholarly work。Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for my honest opinion。 。。。more
Zachary
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Starting this book， I honestly did not have high hopes。 It exceeded all my expectations。 O'Rourke does an excellent job of illustrating points through stories from many periods in US history。 Through those stories， the book points out the ongoing threat to democracy in a way that gives hope。 This is an excellent book。Unfortunately， for some reason， none of the endnotes are placed correctly。 Rather than at the end of sentences， they are primarily after the first word， that got annoying。 Starting this book， I honestly did not have high hopes。 It exceeded all my expectations。 O'Rourke does an excellent job of illustrating points through stories from many periods in US history。 Through those stories， the book points out the ongoing threat to democracy in a way that gives hope。 This is an excellent book。Unfortunately， for some reason， none of the endnotes are placed correctly。 Rather than at the end of sentences， they are primarily after the first word， that got annoying。 。。。more
Rick Burcik
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When I hear the name Beto O'Rouke I immediately think of that idiot riding a skateboard into a campaign event， so I had very low expectations for his new book， "We've Got to Try，" but I was pleasantly surprised。 If you are interested in the history of Black voting rights in the South after emancipation and during Jim Crow， this is a book that you will want to read。 When I hear the name Beto O'Rouke I immediately think of that idiot riding a skateboard into a campaign event， so I had very low expectations for his new book， "We've Got to Try，" but I was pleasantly surprised。 If you are interested in the history of Black voting rights in the South after emancipation and during Jim Crow， this is a book that you will want to read。 。。。more
Pamela
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This book was such a pleasant surprise！ To be honest， I didn’t have high expectations for a book about voting。 I was only interested because of the travel and storytelling aspects。 I loved the book and thought it was well-written and thoroughly engaging。 I love history books and this one was full of history that I haven’t come across in other books。 It also made me think about voting and race relations in new ways。 As a retired educator， I think this would be an excellent book for discussion in This book was such a pleasant surprise！ To be honest， I didn’t have high expectations for a book about voting。 I was only interested because of the travel and storytelling aspects。 I loved the book and thought it was well-written and thoroughly engaging。 I love history books and this one was full of history that I haven’t come across in other books。 It also made me think about voting and race relations in new ways。 As a retired educator， I think this would be an excellent book for discussion in high school history classes。 I feel like a better human for having read this book！ Highly recommend！ 。。。more
Katy
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